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Defying Gravity - Opaque Deep Purple on LP

Opaque Deep Purple. The Sherbs's second album, Defying Gravity, followed in 1981, but failed to produce a single that charted in the either the US or Australian top 100. The band did, however, chart on Billboard's Rock Tracks Chart with the album cut "We Ride Tonight" peaking at No. 26 in 1982. The track's mild AOR success was not enough to ignite album sales in the US, though, and Defying Gravity only reached No. 202 on the album charts. A mini-album, Shaping Up, appeared in 1982. It was critically well received and spawned two minor hits in Australia, but the US issue missed the chart completely. The Sherbs were now in a position where the US listening public were largely indifferent to their releases, and - despite their newer, more contemporary sound - the Australian audience had seemingly written them off as a relic of the 1970s. Porter has said that he found this especially frustrating, as he felt The Sherbs were actually writing and performing better material during this era than in their 1970s heyday.

James left The Sherbs at the end of 1982 to be replaced by Tony Leigh (Harry Young and Sabbath, Gillian Eastoe Band) on guitar. In late 1983, the group announced their decision to disband in 1984, they reverted to Sherbet and undertook a successful farewell tour of Australia and a final single, "Tonight Will Last Forever". Shakespeare returned to co-write and appear on the final single. Both Shakespeare and James rejoined Sherbet on the final tour. The Shaping Up EP and singles are featured as bonus cuts on this release.